activadovsactivanWhich spelling fits?

Which to use

“activado” and “activan” are a confusable Spanish pair: similar on the page, but distinct in meaning, check the gloss before you choose.

#14,497
“activado” frequency rank
#25,882
“activan” frequency rank
40379
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature activado activan
Definition Participio de activar. Tercera persona del plural (ellos, ellas; ustedes, 2.ª persona) del presente de indicativo de activar.

Where the eye mixes activado and activan

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 6 letters in sequence.

8 ch
activado
7 ch
activan

Why the eye confuses activado with activan

A purely visual mix-up. activado ([akt̪iˈβ̞að̞o]) and activan ([akˈt̪iβ̞ãn]) are said differently, so reading them aloud is the quickest way to catch the wrong one. On the page they stay close: they differ by 1 letter(s) in length. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 40379, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

activado is recorded at frequency rank #14,497, classified as averb, pronounced [akt̪iˈβ̞að̞o]. activan is at rank #25,882, tagged as averb, pronounced [akˈt̪iβ̞ãn].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 40379, this pair ranks #159,420 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.

Orthographic DNA of activado vs activan

Shared letters: acitv. Private to "activado": do. Private to "activan": n.

"activado" · 8 letters · shape VCCVCVCV  ·  "activan" · 7 letters · shape VCCVCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • activadoacctivado · acitvado · actiavdo · actibado · activaddo · activaod · activdao · activvado
  • activanacctivan · acitvan · actiavn · actiban · activann · activna · activvan · acttivan

Frequently Asked Questions

Do "activado" and "activan" mean the same thing in a sentence?
No. They are said differently ([akt̪iˈβ̞að̞o] versus [akˈt̪iβ̞ãn]) and carry different meanings; reading the sentence aloud is usually enough to catch the wrong one.
Frequency check: "activado" vs "activan" - which ranks higher?
"activado" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #14,497 in our Spanish list, against #25,882 for "activan". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

After this comparison

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "activado" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "activan" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #159,420 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "activado" and "activan" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "activan vs activaron". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #159,420 of 323,831 scored Spanish pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list